2013 TerraVin Te Ahu Pinot Noir

2013 is the first and current vintage of this Marlborough Te Ahu Pinot Noir made by TerraVin.

The Season

The 2013 season was a stark contrast to the previous 2012 vintage. A cool September and October resulted in later budburst, however late November and December were warm ensuring a very good flowering. This was backed up by a classic Marlborough summer with the expected diurnal variation. Judicious fruit removal resulted in low bunch numbers and good bunch distribution. Plenty of warmth delivered beautifully ripe grapes with a good natural balance of acid, pH and alcohol.

Harvest

Hand harvested into 10 kg bins
Harvested on 11th April
Brix at 23.3

In the bottle

The Pinot noir was gently destemmed and fermented in small batches using indigenous yeast. The juice was aged in French oak barriques for 12 to 16 months, this included MLF employed naturally occurring malolactic bacteria. Then there was a rigorous selection process for blending and conditioning in tank. This wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered on 5^th December 2014.

13.4% alc by vol | TA:  5.0 g/L | pH: 3.68 g/L

Reviews

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate – March 2017 - 90

Pale ruby colored, the 2013 Pinot Noir Calrossie Vineyard (now called Te Ahu) displays meaty/gamey suggestions over a core of mulberries, raspberry preserves and mossy bark plus a waft of Mediterranean herbs. The light-bodied palate gives a solid backbone of lively acidity with understated, chewy tannins supporting the delicate red berry and herb flavors, finishing with good length.

John Saker, Wine writer for Fairfax Media, Cuisine – May 2017 - 18 ★★★★+